Windows Live Essentials Wave 4 vs. iLife

With the first public Beta of Windows Live Wave 4 now just a few weeks away (most probably out by the end of June 2010), Microsoft has offered online previews of Hotmail, Messenger and the Essentials suite. And with each preview that went live, the Redmond company unveiled new comparisons of its own Windows Live offerings against those of competitors. The latest comparison chart offered by Microsoft takes a look at Windows Live Essentials Wave 4 and Apple’s iLife.

The promise from Microsoft is that Windows Live Essentials Wave 4 is Windows 7’s connection to the Cloud. The software giant offers an impressive collection of free applications and services that allow Windows users to easily go beyond the limits of their desktop OS. Windows Live Wave 4 contains: Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Photo Gallery, Windows Live Movie Maker, Windows Live Sync (including the old Live Mesh), Windows Live Writer, Windows Live Family Safety and the Bing Bar.

“Windows 7 just got even better with the best tools to organize photos, make movies and keep in touch with the people that matter most. Windows Live Essentials delivers a set of consumer applications that make life easier by simplifying activities that you perform frequently, from touching up photos and creating beautiful slide shows to connecting with friends through email, instant messaging (IM) and your social networks,” Microsoft noted.

Softpedia readers already know that Microsoft compared Windows Live Hotmail Wave 4 with Gmail, and Windows Live Messenger Wave 4 with Skype, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ, AIM and Facebook. Now, it’s Essentials Wave 4 vs. iLife. As users will be able to see in the chart included below, iLife is actually no match for Windows Live, with the exception of music creation. But I’ll let the feature-by-feature Windows Live Essentials Wave 4 vs. iLife comparison talk.